Wednesday, September 26, 2012

WIP Wednesday: The Calm Before the Storm

I now know the true meaning of the phrase "not enough hours in the day." Because, for real, there aren't. With my Sewing Summit teaching gig coming up and a million other things floating around in my head, my to-do list is never-ending! But I think I've been remarkably calm in the face of it. Just taking it one day at a time, doing what I can, and not freaking out. Yay me. : )

This week I mostly worked on a baby quilt for a friend who's expecting a girl, after two boys. I was kind of at a loss about the design of this quilt until I came across this cute paper-pieced block. It's actually a traditional block from the book The Quilter's Album of Patchwork Patterns by Jinny Beyer, and I drafted the paper-piecing pattern for it myself. Yet another example of a traditional block that I would have sworn was modern. : )

The official name of the block is "Rainbow," but since that's hardly an appropriate name for this particular quilt, I'm thinking of calling it "Cartwheels." Baby's not due quite yet, so I'm bringing this little quilt to Sewing Summit to use as a sample in the Foundation Paper Piecing class that I'm teaching with Elizabeth.

Speaking of Sewing Summit, a few other class samples are on my to-do list as well. In case you haven't noticed, I looooove paper-piecing, so I'm all dorky-excited about showing people what they can do with this technique! And I'm thinking a little of Sweetwater's new collection Mama Said Sew will have to make its way into at least one of my samples. (It's in stock at Pink Castle ... go and get it!)

Last but not least, I signed a contract today to speak about "Modern Quilting and the Online Quilting Community" at a traditional quilt guild meeting in May. Gulp. I'm excited, but also nervous about it already! Between this and teaching at Sewing Summit, I'm thinking a public-speaking class might not be a bad idea ...

So what are you working on this week? Here are the linky rules:

1. Link up any post from the past week that features at least one unfinished work-in-progress (WIP).
2. Somewhere in your post, you must link back here to my blog. (Or grab my WIP Wednesday button for your sidebar.)
3. Comment on at least a few of the other WIP Wednesday links. Because what fun is a linky party without comments? : )

The new quilt looks absolutely gorgeous. I love the grey background. You are right, it does look like a super modern design. I myself am completely under the pump getting things organised for the Australian Machine Quilting Festival which kicks off on Friday. So on tonight's list I have to finish writing and printing two patterns and put the binding on a small quilt - definitely not enough hours in the day! Luckily I have my old friend Diet Coke to get me through ;)

Good luck with all of your prep for Sewing Summit - I am sure you will rock it!

I love your Cartwheels quilt, and I think that's a great name for it, too! I stink at naming quilts :) And I think you'll do a great job speaking to the traditional guild about modern quilting, don't sweat it!

Oh! I too have been asked to speak to a traditional guild about modern quilting and the online world! I'm supposed to do that in September or October 2013. The good news is that I enjoy speaking publicly. The invitation is also motivating me to finish some UFOs (BOMs, swaps) so I have more quilts to show. It's exciting for you to be teaching and sharing like this. You have gifts to share, for sure, so do enjoy it!

Super block! Might even get me to 'like' paper piecing!!!!! The color choices are what really make it fantastic (in my humble opinion!!!)! Know what you mean about crazy busy schedules.....same here. Hope to get back to the machine tomorrow (after 3 days of working....filling in for these days has been somewhat poor timing on my part!). Fall/Autumn seems to be the most busy of any seasons.....everyone is so ready to 'ramp up' for Christmas prep and so many programs begin again for the winter! You will be great at the May presentation.....just think of it as a conversation with a few friends!!!!

I still have NO idea what paper piecing is. If someone ever shows me I think I have an idea, but not sure.If you lived close to Kansas, it would be awesome to have you speak at our quilt guild.I love going to guild for lots of reasons---the food, the company, the learning, the workshops.

Your cart wheel is looking great. I know what you mean not enough hours in the day. not enough days in the week or month. Sept fly's by fast. I might have to get me a fabric or two from the line you showed.

Your stipple quilting is fantastic! I hope you guys have a great time teaching at sewing summit. I just barely heard about that one - too late to go. I guess there's always next year. I am going to QuiltCon in Feb though so I can hardly wait. Thanks for all the inspiring photos!

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